Bragi had expected a negative reaction to his idea about the speech. A negative reaction was actually a positive when it came to that goddess most of the time, and Bragi was used to turning things upside down for her. The words still sliced through him on impact. He'd be lost. Bragi believed he had one thing he could really do. If he couldn't do that thing, that meant he couldn't do anything. But then he looked up through the netting and caught the goddess's eyes.
There was a look in them that made Bragi want to give up the game immediately, and that reminded him that this was a game. A game where the most negative reaction was actually the best one, because it meant that outside of the game, in the moments when she was his love and opponent, rather than opponent that he loved, despite what she said, the goddess cared. The pained expression went away, and Bragi could smile again. “Then it wouldn't be much of a relationship, would it?” he said.
The letter would have been better if he'd actually written it, and if Bragi could have used specifics. He hated how vague he had to be all the time during this courtship so that the goddess wouldn't know she was being specific. There was so much beauty in the details that he had to keep to himself. Bragi hated keeping anything to himself. He had to remind himself constantly what was at stake. If he kept all the details to himself now, maybe one day Bragi could share them all. In the meantime, he was glad Idun had liked his unwritten speech. He was glad he hadn't been lost. Their relationship was still in some pieces. But that was like it had been before. He nodded. “I'll keep it the way it is then” Bragi promised.
He kept his face as expressionless as possible when she inquired after the Frost Giants, but Bragi didn't feel expressionless. He felt the slight tingle of hope. He wanted to tell her that he'd cut her down instantly, just in case. Instead Bragi said, “I keep trying to figure out who would make a net to catch people. Frost giant is my best guess.” Then he furrowed his brow at his words again.